Employment Law
If your employer has five or more employees, you can take up to four months of pregnancy disability leave for each pregnancy while your health care provider says you cannot work, with no minimum time on the job. If you also qualify for the California Family Rights Act, you can add up to 12 more workweeks to bond with the baby, and in either case your employer generally must return you to the same job.
Last updated October 4, 2026.
Pregnancy is protected in two ways. It is a protected characteristic, so an employer cannot fire, demote or refuse to hire someone because of it, and it is the basis for specific leave, accommodation and lactation rights. This page covers those specific rights. The broader protections against discrimination are on our employment law page.
Government Code section 12945(a)(1) gives an employee disabled by pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition the right to take leave for a reasonable period of up to four months and then return to work. The Civil Rights Department's notice to employees explains that four months means the working days you would normally work in one-third of a year, or 17 1/3 weeks for a full-time employee. The leave applies at employers with five or more employees, with no minimum time on the job, and part-time workers are treated the same as full-time workers.
The leave covers the time you are actually unable to work, which the department's fact sheet says includes prenatal and postnatal appointments, severe morning sickness, doctor-ordered bed rest, childbirth and recovery, and the loss or end of a pregnancy; its notice adds conditions such as preeclampsia and postpartum depression. Leave can be intermittent or a reduced schedule when your provider says so. The fact sheet notes that in a normal pregnancy a worker is typically disabled about 4 weeks before the due date and 6 weeks after a vaginal birth, or 8 weeks after a cesarean.
| Right | Length or rule | Who qualifies | Law |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pregnancy disability leave | Up to four months per pregnancy, while disabled | Employees of employers with 5 or more employees; no minimum time worked | Gov. Code 12945 |
| Health coverage during pregnancy disability leave | Employer keeps paying group health coverage, up to four months in a 12-month period | Employees whose employer normally pays for that coverage | Gov. Code 12945(a)(2) |
| CFRA bonding leave | Up to 12 workweeks in a 12-month period, taken within one year of the birth | More than 12 months of service and at least 1,250 hours in the past 12 months; employer with 5 or more employees | Gov. Code 12945.2 |
| Health coverage during CFRA leave | Employer maintains and pays for group health coverage, up to 12 workweeks in a 12-month period | Employees on CFRA leave | Gov. Code 12945.2(e) |
| Reproductive loss leave | Up to 5 days per event (20 days in 12 months), within three months | Employed at least 30 days; employer with 5 or more employees | Gov. Code 12945.6 |
| Lactation break time and space | Reasonable break time each time you need to express milk, and a private place that is not a bathroom | Every employer; employers under 50 employees may claim undue hardship for some room requirements | Lab. Code 1030, 1031 |
| Paid Family Leave benefits | Up to 8 weeks of benefit payments in a 12-month period to bond with a new child; no job protection on its own | Workers who paid into State Disability Insurance and meet EDD's earnings rule | Employment Development Department |
Yes, if you qualify for both. Government Code section 12945.2 gives up to 12 workweeks of CFRA leave in addition to pregnancy disability leave, to be completed within one year of the birth, adoption or foster placement. A CFRA request is not treated as granted unless the employer guarantees you the same or a comparable position when it ends, and you return with no less seniority than before (section 12945.2(a) and (f)). If you were let go after asking for family or medical leave for another reason, such as your own illness, see our page on being fired after asking for medical leave or an accommodation.
The law protects the job, not the paycheck. Pregnancy disability leave is paid or unpaid depending on the employer's policy for other medical leave. You may choose to use vacation or other paid time off, and the employer may require you to use available sick leave, but it may not require you to use vacation. During CFRA bonding leave, sick leave may be used only if you and the employer both agree (section 12945.2(d)).
State programs fill part of the gap. An employee disabled by pregnancy may qualify for State Disability Insurance, and Paid Family Leave pays benefits for up to 8 weeks in a 12-month period to bond with a new child. The Employment Development Department is clear that Paid Family Leave provides payments but not job protection. If your employer normally pays for your group health coverage, it must keep doing so for up to four months during pregnancy disability leave (section 12945(a)(2)) and up to 12 workweeks during CFRA leave (section 12945.2(e)). Our page on paid sick leave in California explains how much sick time you should have built up.
Under section 12945(a)(3), an employer must provide a reasonable accommodation for a condition related to pregnancy or childbirth when you ask on your provider's advice, such as modified duties, a stool or chair, or more frequent breaks. You can also ask for a temporary transfer to a less strenuous or hazardous position if one can reasonably be arranged, although the employer need not create a job, move a more senior employee, or promote someone unqualified.
Labor Code section 1030 requires every employer to provide reasonable break time each time you need to express milk; time beyond your paid rest breaks is unpaid. Under section 1031, the space must be close to your work area, shielded from view, free from intrusion and never a bathroom, with a surface for a pump, a place to sit and electricity, plus a nearby sink and refrigerator or other cooling device. An employer with fewer than 50 employees may be excused from a requirement only by showing undue hardship.
Section 1034 requires a written lactation policy, given to new hires and to anyone who asks about parental leave. Under section 1033, denying lactation breaks or space is treated as a missed break under section 226.7, the premium explained in our guide to missed meal and rest breaks in California. The Labor Commissioner takes those claims and retaliation complaints, and may impose a civil penalty of $100 for each day break time or space is denied. Our page on the Labor Commissioner's Los Angeles-area offices explains how a claim runs locally.
Pregnancy disability leave has no tenure requirement. CFRA bonding leave requires more than 12 months of service and at least 1,250 hours in the past 12 months (section 12945.2(a)), so a newer employee may have the disability leave but not the bonding leave. Reproductive loss leave requires 30 days of employment (section 12945.6(a)(2)).
Section 12945.6 gives up to five days of leave after a miscarriage, stillbirth, failed adoption, failed surrogacy or unsuccessful assisted reproduction, up to 20 days in 12 months. The days need not be consecutive and are normally taken within three months, counted from the end of any pregnancy disability or CFRA leave you are on. Without an employer policy the leave may be unpaid, but you may use vacation or sick leave, and the employer must keep the request confidential. The death of a family member is covered separately by bereavement leave in California.
Section 12945(a)(4) makes it unlawful to interfere with or deny any pregnancy right, and sections 12945.2(k) and 12945.6(c) bar punishing someone for taking CFRA or reproductive loss leave. Discipline, a schedule cut or a sudden bad review soon after a leave request can be evidence.
For example, imagine a hypothetical retail associate at a Glendale store with about 20 employees. She has worked there six months when her doctor advises against heavy lifting late in her pregnancy. She asks in writing for a temporary transfer to the register, attaches the doctor's note, and asks for a written guarantee that she can return to her job.
The store has five or more employees, so she can take pregnancy disability leave even though she is new, and the transfer must be granted if it can reasonably be arranged. Her doctor certifies leave starting about four weeks before her due date, and after a cesarean, about eight weeks of recovery, inside four months. She will still have fewer than 12 months of service when bonding leave would begin, so she does not qualify for CFRA, and her job protection ends when the disability does. Paid Family Leave benefits may still be available, but they do not hold her job.
When she returns she asks for a lactation room that is not the restroom, and she keeps a dated record of every request and reply. Whether anything the store does later is lawful would depend on facts not yet known.
Yes. The Civil Rights Department's fact sheet says full-time and part-time employees are treated the same, with no hours or tenure requirement. The employer must have five or more employees.
Yes, if they qualify. CFRA bonding leave covers the birth of the employee's child, so a parent who meets the 12-month and 1,250-hour rules can take up to 12 workweeks within a year of the birth.
No. The employer may require you to use accrued sick leave during an unpaid part of the leave, but may not require you to use vacation. You may choose to use it.
The leave does not protect against decisions unrelated to the pregnancy, such as a layoff, but the Civil Rights Department's fact sheet says it is illegal to fire an employee because the employee is pregnant or taking pregnancy disability leave. The timing and the employer's records may show the real reason.
Government Code section 12960 allows three years from the unlawful practice to file with the Civil Rights Department, and section 12965 then generally allows one year from the right-to-sue notice to sue. Our guide to the Civil Rights Department complaint process walks through the steps.
No. The health care provider may not disclose the underlying diagnosis without your consent. The certification states the reason for leave and its probable duration.
We help employees in Glendale and across Los Angeles County understand their leave rights, document what happened, and respond when an employer refuses leave or ends a job during or after a pregnancy. Workers in the area can read about local agencies and courts on our Glendale employment lawyer page. Call (818) 244-9000 or request a consultation.
Our Glendale team can review what your employer said and did and explain the protections California law gives you.
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